SepsisThe current use of 2 or more SIRS criteria (Box 1) to identify sepsiswas unanimously considered by the task force to be unhelpful.Changes in white blood cell count, temperature, and heart ratereflect inflammation, the host response to “danger” in the form ofinfection or other insults. The SIRS criteria do not necessarily indicate a dysregulated, life-threatening response. SIRS criteria arepresent in many hospitalized patients, including those who neverdevelop infection and never incur adverse outcomes (poor discriminant validity).25 In addition, 1 in 8 patients admitted to criti